Tag: healthy

After having been in a little bit of a funk back in December, I decided that I needed to change parts of my lifestyle so that I could feel fully myself again. I knew it was important that I find a physical activity that I would enjoy and make some healthy (but not depriving) changes to my diet. Since then, I’ve committed to an almost daily at-home yoga practice and have ensured that I eat a balanced diet daily. What I have found is that if you are trying to eat healthier, changing the way you snack can make a big difference. I by no means believe in self-deprivation when it comes to eating but I do think there are smarter ways of snacking instead of instantly going for a bag of chips or a box of cookies.

In my attempts to find healthier recipes, I stumbled upon the Minimalist Baker, a website dedicated to providing healthy and easy recipes (vegan and often gluten-free). I have so far tried many different recipes, like sweet potato fries, peanut butter chocolate chip granola, and even roasted chickpeas, and I have loved it all. A snack that I have found from the website that is easy to make and tastes just like a cookie is the Peanut Butter Cup Energy Bites. They don’t take long to make and require no baking, which makes it super easy when you are craving something sweet and don’t have the patience to wait. When first making it, I had to adapt it slightly since I didn’t have chia seeds and many dates as the original recipe called for but it still turned out great! When a recipe is simple, it makes it easier to customize like I did!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Energy Bites

These make a great midday snack or even a quick and easy breakfast along side a banana!

1 cup of dates (if you can use medjool dates; they are sweeter in taste than deglect)

3 tablespoons peanut butter (natural is best but any other nut butter would work)

1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks

2/3 cups of rolled oats

Pulse dates in a food processor until it forms a ball or has been cut up into tiny pieces

Now you can add the rolled oats, chocolate, and peanut butter and mix it all together – you can also add other things like chia, flax or hemp seeds or even shredded coconut if you’d like!

Once you have your mixture, it’s time to roll! A good size to make your energy ball is about 1 inch in diameter

To set the energy bites, put them in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes. You can store them in an air-tight container for about a week but you can also keep them in the fridge for better freshness or if you prefer a firmer texture.